‘Terribly over budget’: Claudia Balducci reaffirms need for Sound Transit despite budget woes

As Sound Transit prepares to open several light rail stations across King County, the candidate for King County Executive, Claudia Balducci, stated the next phase in the city’s plans is “terribly over budget.”

Despite the financial concerns, Balducci noted that Sound Transit remains a valuable transportation option for the community on “The John Curley Show” on KIRO Newsradio.

“You can ride the light rail in East King County, which was not a thing that you could do before I was on the county council, so I’m proud that we are opening the light rail. We’re testing across the bridge right now; it’ll open in a few months. The challenge is that we are spending a lot of money,” Balducci said. “The next phase is terribly over budget. We’re looking at a $30 billion potential cost overrun.”

Considering the project is largely over budget and beyond the initial projected completion date, Curley asked whether the transit system, overall, will be utilized in a way that is worth the amount of money spent.

“What percentage of money are you taking from the taxpayer, putting it into the train, and then saying, ‘Is that worth it?'” Curley asked. “Two to 3% of the total commuters will actually use public transportation, so that’s a lot of money for a very, very small group of people.”

“It gives all of us a choice; we can all choose to ride it. We didn’t have that choice before; to me, that is the value of creating a fixed route, high-capacity transit system, as opposed to just another bus. And it drives economic development in ways that nothing else does.”

Watch the full discussion in the video above.

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